We keep running with the screams and laughs of the children all around us. The vertigo is overwhelming and I find that Adam’s hand is now guiding me forward. Adam is leading me now, like I did with Shana, only now I’m the one Slender is feeding on. My feet slip and I’m down on my knees doing the best I can to crawl forward. I don’t have much energy left. “Adam, keep running,” I say weakly. He let’s go.
“I can’t. Alyssa, I can’t,” he cries.
“Leave me, just run,” I say, trying to rise back up. I anticipate a mass of hands feeding on me, draining my last legs as I struggle to move forward. What if they feed on Adam too? “Adam, you have to run!” I shout as loudly as I can, which is barely above a whisper.
“I can’t, Alyssa. They’re everywhere,” he says. With no physical contact with Adam, my vision has begun to return. I climb up, and with the few meters of light radiating from his aura, I see where we are. A helpless cry escapes when I see that the Slender Children have us surrounded and are closing in slowly, circling their prey. I walk forward a few paces trying to find an out, but hopelessness consumes me as my knees buckle once more. I sit here one knee on the ground and one leg trying to push me back up, waiting to be consumed. It’s over. I’ve lost. There’s no- there’s a gap. It’s only a couple meters wide, but—I feel a meager bit of hope hit me. If I can make it through I might be able to leave them behind, at least until they warp again. It’s time to make a last stand.
“Let’s go,” I say.
“We have to run past them,” I continue. It’s a last ditch resort, but it’s the only way I have left.
“They’ll catch us,” Adam protests, but I laugh.
“Guess this is where I die,” I say, although I’m not even sure if Adam will make it even if I get him through. I rise quickly, my body being powered by a final surge of energy. It’s just enough, just enough to get by them. I lift Adam onto my back ignoring the pain as his body drains me. My last bit of strength- my last will is to keep my brother safe. I put a foot forward and take off. The Slender Children go from their slow prowling to trained sprinters inside of a- distortion. I feel hands on me, hands that are not Adams, but I ignore them. The only way to get them off is to move. I run right through one of them. I can’t see anything, and the painful experience of such a collision nearly stops me right there, but I give myself every mental reassurance that I can win this. Just ten more paces… ten more seconds. We’re almost there, I tell myself.
I keep going, my feet hitting the ground so heavily that my steps seem to displace the black earth beneath me. I feel like I’m running faster than I ever have before, even in the real world. Even with Adam latched onto me like a parasite as he unwillingly feeds on my life-force. I can’t tell if the numbness is helping me or hindering me, but I’m pretty sure if I could actually feel what I was doing, I wouldn’t be able to do it. I must have dashed fifty meters, but every few steps an unwanted hand touches me, siphoning my last remaining bits of energy. They’re on my thighs, shoulders, arms, and even my head. Are they running with me, warping in front of me, or do they just have really long arms? I can’t see. I can’t see a thing in front of me now. It’s not worth thinking about. I can’t think. I don’t have any strength to think.
I take another step, but I don’t reach ground immediately, and my heart skips a beat. “Downhill…” I say aloud, almost chuckling. I try to recover by throwing my next leg forward to catch myself, but it’s too late. I feel my knee hit the ground, followed by my chest and then onto my side. I am thankful for the numbness now. I can’t feel any pain as my body slams into the ground during my tumble. I’m falling down. My brain is shutting down. I catch a glimpse of something in the split second before I hit it. It’s a large tree. Thud.
“Ah…ugh,” I groan.
I roll over but my back is against something. I feel wet, and everything is bright. I cough weakly. “Am I dead?” I ask aloud. I feel something pushing me.
“Alyssa,” a distorted voice calls.
“Alyssa, wake up. Don’t be dead!” it shouts. I still hear static, but it’s more broken than before. I can see a little bit more. I can see branches. The person speaks again. “Alyssa!”
“Adam,” I groan. My vision returns a little bit, but it keeps going blurry again. I’m in the forest, and Adam is leaning over me, trying to rouse me with his good arm. I look him in the eye. He looks normal aside from paleness and a few bruises. I cough again and try to move. My body is still very numb, and it’s another few seconds before I can so much as hug Adam. I look at my body to identify the wetness, and realize that it’s not broken static that I hear.
“Rain,” I grunt. It hurts to talk. I try and get up, but it’s still a while longer before I can roll over onto my stomach. Now I have to push myself up.
I slowly make it to my feet and Adam helps me stand the rest of the way up. My vision is still blurry, but I can see Adam coated in muddy leaves. I lean forward- nearly falling on him, and kiss him on the top of his head.
“We did it?” I ask. I look around. It’s morning and I see no sign of the Slender Man, although I feel like moving around is still as difficult, and now that the numbness has dispersed some more, I realize I’m banged up pretty bad from the fall. My vision clears up a bit and I look around. I think I can make out the trail about ten meters away.
“Come on,” I mumble to Adam, still feeling weak. “You okay?” I ask, finding that I have a small limp. A lot of my pain seems to throb from my thigh and back, but the most intense is coming from my head. I must have hit it, but at least feeling is returning to me
“Where’s the bus?” asks Adam.
“Bus?” I ask, not sure what he’s talking about. “We need an ambulance,” I mutter. He follows me and we find out that it was the trail I saw. We follow the trail towards the school. We aren’t too deep into the woods, so it’ll only be a bit longer before I can— “Ugh,” my vision blurs again and I stumble. “I think,” I huff. “I think I hit my head, a little too hard,” I say through short breaths.
“Where’s Denise? We need to find her!” he protests. What is he talking about? Denise, she’s dead right?
“Adam, Denise isn’t here,” I say, trudging along. I can see the road just ahead. For the millionth time I anticipate Slender stealing me away at the last moment. Slender! Something is wrong. This escape was suspiciously easy. Why has he stopped pursuit? I fell down hill and was knocked out, and now I’m back? He wanted me. I was the one who escaped, stealing one of his children and now I’ve done it again? That doesn’t sit right. He’ll be back.
“No, she was sitting right beside me,” he protests, tugging. My train of thought returns to him. He’s talking about Denise.
“No just, we need police,” I mutter. We make it through the edge of the woods safely, but my vision blurs again. I try shaking my head to clear things up but it only makes it worse. I pull Adam along the road, hoping someone will be out driving this early. After another minute I see a car in the distance and wave. The car is coming in our direction. I rush forward, pulling Adam with me as fast as I can, with a minor limp. I almost think we aren’t going to make it. Maybe we aren’t as visible in this rain, but then I realize that it’s driving slowly, as if the driver is scanning the woods already. As I get closer I see that it’s a police car and it’s already come to a halt by the time I register who’s driving it.
“Oh my god!” I hear Deputy Yew shout. “Alyssa, you found him! Oh—” he rushes over to us. “Are you alright?” he asks when he gets close.